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Class rings remain a high school tradition

Staff photo by Richard O Jones Hamilton High School student Dwayne Weber said he took a summer job to earn the money to pay for his class ring.

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 11:01 PM Friday, November 6, 2009

HAMILTON — While many families are cutting back on expenses in the current economic climate, some traditions seem to be recession-proof.

Class rings, for instance, are a time-honored tradition for high school graduates, and those that are inclined to buy one are buying them — though they may be trimming the expense with fewer features or alternatives to gold and silver.

Hamilton High School student Dwayne Weber said last week that even though his family didn’t have the money to buy a class ring, he wanted one badly enough that he spent the summer earning the $240 he paid for one at a local jeweler.

“I think the kids still want them,” said Jeff Tanner, a sales representative for Jostens, one of the leading purveyors of class rings. Rich Stoebe, Jostens’ director of communications, said the company has been “very pleased” with its sales for the last two years, but would not release specific numbers.

“We find that buying a class ring is a tradition for many families and many schools and that people value the tradition enough to continue purchasing class rings,” Stoebe said.

Jostens has responded to the current economy by introducing “middle-tier metal combinations” to make sure that whatever a student’s budget, there would be a class ring available.

“The cost of a class ring starts at around $70 for nonprecious metals,” Stoebe said, “and we offer different price points based primarily on the metal of choice. We’ve seen a lot of interest in the midrange of rings with combination metals.”

That, he said, is a strategy that Jostens, which started selling class rings in the early 1920s, first introduced during the Great Depression to help make rings more affordable.

“Obviously, we feel very strongly about tradition and the symbolism of connecting students to their schools,” Stoebe said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.

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